Barefoot College

Barefoot College was founded by Bunker Roy and helps the poorest of the poor far beyond Rajastan and India by teaching simple ecological technologies - among others: the appliance of solar energy and the use of rain water; facilitation of minimal education of children at over 250 night schools.

The college believes, and has demonstrated, that educational qualifications are not needed by people with rural or poor backgrounds to acquire skills that can be of service to their community. In fact, the existence of theoretical paper-based qualifications have been usually found to be a deterrent to development as those that have them tend to come for work or training with mental blocks and superficial expertise.

Primarily, students are trained in the fabrication and repair of solar electric equipment intended for use in rural areas. They also learn basic welding skills in their training, and students also have been fabricating Scheffler style reflectors to create solar kitchens. These applications ares suited for multi-family or village use.